Session 1: A New Adventure Awaits!

General Summary

The following is the log of Session #1, played 12/31/21 at 6:30p. In attendance were Johnathon (DM), Kitty (Anakami), Mya (Bronte), Ryan (Bert), Kelly (Ros), Olaxysis (Sharon), and Flip (Justin).  

The Last Straw

• Ros & Bert were trying to remove the curse on Bert and his holy symbol. They heard of an elven sage named Thelendra who could help, so they sailed from the Ramshackle Coast across to Honoro, and up the rivers as far as they could go. They traveled on foot up to the crossroads, and up through the caldera into Elladrel. The elven sage could help, but needed a container charged with undead energy to remove the curse. She connected the two to Beregast, who could connect them to adventurers to help them fill the vessel.
• Ros & Bert joined up with Anakami of Tree Home , Olaxisys, Flip, and Ellariel, and headed to the Burn to collect what they needed. It was a hard fought trip – even as they sought to hide in a cave Burnside, they encountered hobgoblin skeletons with eyes and fists of flame. Olaxisys, Flip, Ros and Bert all fell in battle but were revived so that they could escape. They fled to the other side of the mountains and camped for the night.
• PLAYED SCENE: The group gathered around a fire, talking about their harrowing experience. They all offered up that this was too hard – too much. They could go for a quieter life. Olaxysis mused of a time where she didn't live in danger. Ellariel whispered “you’re not cut out for this” to nobod & everybody at the same time, and left. The next morning, Ellariel was gone and there was a note in Anakami’s pack: “Where I go you cannot follow”. Together they finished the journey back to Beregast.
• When they arrived at Beregast, Thelendra removed the curse, and everyone sighed in relief. The group mentioned that they were done – no more adventures. Count them out. Beregast offered them a way out – the deed to an old farmhouse his grandparents had, one of the early buildings in the Caldera. He’s told it still stands, and was used as an inn for a while. Take this deed, with the promise that I can send others there to work to recover, or for a breather. The group agreed. Beregast had his people send some paperwork ahead, and arranged for them to meet Altair, an old friend of his, in Derenthil – the border city to the caldera. They group headed out.

The Ride Through the Caldera

• In Derenthil, the group rose early and stepped out of The Shadow's Rest to their cart, only to find Bronte sitting on it, waiting for them. She greeted them as if she’d known them forever, knowing their names and a bit of their history … all very odd, until she explained that it was her dreamfriend Charlotte who gave her that information, which is when it got REALLY weird: all of the others had experienced an occasional odd dream with a spirit named Charlotte, but they hadn’t mentioned it before. After all they were just dreams! Anakami was a little more in tune with Charlotte and she invited Bronte for the ride into Caldera City. This was the last place in Arkadia for Bronte to visit, so she agreed.
• Altair, an old, grey leonin, met them on his horse and rode them down into Caldera. He gave an introduction to the city, its history, and ‘some of the things the tour guides won’t tell you’. He told them about the great legal tradition of Caldera, and how it is driven by Honoran customs, and also how the growth of the city has been more than it can handle; The Shield can’t keep up, so there are some dodgy parts of town. Bronte tried to heal Altair’s knee wound, which warmed and itched a bit but still remained a big scar without fur. Anakami asked what Altair’s favorite food might be; it was lean antelope, and he referred Anakami to Seonin Flagstaff, a traditional Honoran butcher in Weaver’s Way, near BloodBottom
• Altair asked them what each person was hoping to get out of Caldera City. Ros, Bert, and Olaxysis agreed that some peace would be nice. Flip agreed, and mentioned that some gold wouldn't hurt either. Anakami wants to spread the word of the Good Lady, and have feasts! Everyone thought that sounded great. Bronte wished to deepen her consciousness and expand her understanding of the universe, just like everyone else, right? Everyone else was left speechless.
• Altair guided them down to Inner Loop Road through the Park, Upper Grove, Autumn Market, The Ideals, Speaker’s Forum, The Passions, and then up Edra Spoke to the Inn, playing tour guide to the new residents. Nobody seemed reassured that The Shield kept the Necromancy Tower under guard, regardless of how many people or how long. He dropped them off and promised to return in the morning to vouch for them and finalize the deed.

The New Home

• Ros walked the grounds and was interested in the back building that was locked. She couldn’t get in. They tried to attract attention from people on the road, but were told that “You shouldn’t be in there, that’s Shadow Blades territory!” from passerbys. The others explored the main room, and Ros joined them. Anakami opened the left door, which blew up and everyone took damage. They proceeded more carefully after that.
• Bronte put her hands on the stone to get some intuition as to what is going on. She heard a rhythmic hammering sound.
• Bert got them into the basement, where they found a torture chair and a dead body. Ros went out exploring again. Bronte exploded the boxes blocking the way up from the main floor. This shockwave was loud, and Ros sighed heavily and turned back in to rejoin the group. The boxes collapsed into the stairwell below. Olaxysis and Flip went up through the open stairway shaft and began to explore the upstairs. Flip turned into a bear and smashed the doors down in the upper floor. They jumped down onto the main floor, rear left room. Bert opened the 2nd left door, and found the room beyond that jammed. Flip and Olaxys cleared out the boxes jamming it up, and they were able to connect together the upper and main floor, Spokeside. The whole place is a mess, lots of broken beds and old dusty furniture. Not a great start!
• Degra came by, with reports of an explosion. He came in, spear drawn, and was worried about the bear, but they talked him down and showed him the deed. They are the new owners! Bert reported the dead body in the basement, Degra told his lieutenants to go calm the townsfolk, they’re the new owners, Shadow Blades are gone. Once Degra took notes and the report, they all walked outside. Anakami asked their favorite food. The harengon argued over the best way to prepare carrot stew. Degra wished them well, told them to thank Tess for getting rid of the Shadow Blades, and was off. The townsfolk were much friendlier after this, greeting them and wishing them well. Much friendlier. By then the sun was setting, so they settled in for some dinner.
• Quinn, the night guard, came by to make sure they understood that he didn’t want any shit. He already had enough to deal with. “NO FUCKIN' EXPLOSIONS”. Obviously Degra fills out his reports, and Quinn reads them! He suggested they bring the horses inside the inn, nail the door shut, come out in the morning. They did so, and everything went fine. Quinn came by to check on them now and then. They were fine.

The First Morning & New Beginnings

 

• The next morning, Bronte woke up with a brutal headache. She had slept very poorly. Her night visions were filled with hammers and explosions. Exhausted, she stumbled about to find some tea. She came across a satchel of herbs left by the previous owner that she brewed into a tea. It REALLY relaxed her.
• Tess, the city clerk came by to introduce herself and settle the deed. Altair came by and the two hit it off right away, and Tess had in fact read some of Altair’s essays! She was very impressed with his clarity of thinking and his way with words. Altair vouched for them and deed was settled; the two continued flirting.
• Tess then asked for taxes the year advance – 67 copper per day for 192 days for a total of 128 gold, 6 silver, 4 copper. The group pooled together, including Bronte, and paid the taxes.
• Tess then broke the bad news: the backtaxes were substantial, and notices had gone unanswered. So the city had a repossession notice, with 6 days (one week) to repay the back taxes for 3 years, 6 weeks, 0 days: 414 gold, 6 copper. The group doesn’t have that much gold, and they need money to get set up. She tells them they have 6 days to repay, so they could arrange with a money lender … Altair mentions that the lender would surely take advantage of their desperate situation.
• The group agrees that they will try and open sooner than they thought, and given that payday for the dockworkers is coming up, they could have a grand opening then. A real blowout. That’s in 5 days, on Self Day. There’s only 5 days to get ready!
• Bert picked up a plank and wrote “THE STOUT HEART INN” with a piece of charcoal. He hung the sign outside, and everyone began their day.

Rewards Granted

• Deed to the Inn

Missions/Quests Completed

• Made the journey from Elladrel to Caldera City
• Settled the deed to the inn
• Spent the night without problems
• Paid year taxes in advance

Character(s) interacted with

• Beregast, the dragonborn patron. A former adventurer and information broker.
• Altair, the old grey leonin lawyer.
• Degra, the young and brash leonin day guard.
• Quinn, the weary halfling night guard.
• Tess, the chipper gnome city clerk.
• Fenir, the owner of "Hot Knights", a historically educational smut shop.

Created Content

ROLL FOR GOLD: Everyone started with 25 + 3d8 * 5 gold.

• Olaxisys: 115, Bronte: 75, Flip: 110, Anakami: 85, Bert: 130, Ros: 55
• Park and Upper Grove are more classic elven architecture
• All of the temples and the surrounding buildings are primarily of Honoran architecture, as they were the ones to build them. Low to the ground, stone and wood. Open air.
• Speaker’s Forum is where Altair works. There’s a giant open road through the middle of the octant and right through Speaker’s Forum itself – government should be open to all.
• In the Passions you start to see the beginnings of human architecture, in that shanty towns have built up at the edge of the Passions, and all through BloodBottom or Tanner’s Row.
• The necromancy tower is dark, and under 24/7 guard. Nobody gets in! The dragonborn agreed to leave it empty, but didn’t agree to tear it down. Part of the compromise that was made in the Crossroads Compact.